Electric vacuum cleaner



O. HOLM-HANSEN ECTRIC VACUUM CLEANER Filed Aug. 25, 1953 Ihvehtor':

lPala-,intel Maya 2s, 1935 ELECTRIC VACUUM CLEANER Gsmund Holm-llamen, Stratford, Conn., assignor to General Electric Company, a-corpo ration of New York Application August' 25.1933. serial No. 686,152

-.2Claims.

The present invention relates to electric1 vacuum cleaners of the portable household type, and especially to cord hook arrangements for such cleaners.

The-object .of the invention is to provide an improved arrangement of cord hooks for vacuum cleaners whereby the cord may be removed from 'n the hooks more conveniently than heretofore, and

for a consideration of what I believe to be novel and my invention, attention is directed to the accompanying description and the claims appended thereto.

In the drawing, Fig.`1 is a perspective view of a vacuum cleaner equipped with the improved cord hooks Fig. 2 is a perspective view of portions of the vacuum cleaner showing the cord hooks in a second position; Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the handle at the point where 'the upper hook is fastened thereto; and Fig. 4 is a side view of the same portion of the handle as is shown in Fig. 3. Referring to the drawing, I indicates the cleaning unit of anelectric motor driven vacuum cleaner. Fastened to the cleaning unit is a dust bag 2 which catchesand holds the dirt taken up by the cleaning unit, and a handle 3 which affords a means for moving the cleaning unit over` the surface to be cleaned. The upper end of the dust bag is fastened to the upper endA of the handle. Annelectric cord l is provided for connecting the a cleaning unit to a wall plug receptacle. The cord passes from the cleaning unit up through the handle and extends beyond the handle to provide a length sumcient to permit the cleaner to be moved over the surface to be cleaned when the plug at the end of the cord is connected to a plug receptacle.

The construction so far described may be taken astypical o f any suitable electric motor driven vacuum cleaner. l

It is convenient to have a place to store the cori-l when the vacuum cleaner is not in use and to have a place to store excess cord when cleaning a spot inthe general vicinity of a wall plug receptacle. The usual arrangement forl this is the provision of two cord hooks which are fastened permanently to the handle, an upper hook which faces upwardly and a lower hook which faces downwardly. The cord isA wound around the two hooks and is thus stored on the handle. This arrangement has the disadvantage that each time the vacuum cleaner is brought out for use, it is necessary that the cord be unwound, one loop at a time. This-entails considerable time and trouble.

According to the present invention, there are provided a lower fixed cord hook 5 and an upper slidable cord hook 6. The lower xed cord hook .5 is fastened permanently` to thelower end of the handle 3 and faces downwardly. The upper slidable hook 6 moves vertically along the handle a distance somewhat greater than the depth of the lower ilxed hook 5. The upper hook` has two positions, an upper position and a lower position,

and means are p rovided to fasten it in either of these two positions. When the cord is to be wound on the handle, the upper hook is fastened in its upper position and the cord is wound on the hooks. When the vacuum cleaner is to be used, the upper hook is moved from`its upper position to its lower position. This drops the loops of cord a distance sulcient to permit the lower ends of the .loops to swing free of the lower hook. As a result, the cord is now looped over only the upper hook and as many cord loops as desired may be lifted oifthe upper hook at the same time. By this arrangement, therefore, any number of loops may be quickly and conveniently lifted of! ,the

upper hook, the remainder being left hanging on the hook.

' *In this connection, it is important that the up per hook be arranged to slide along the handle a distance greater than the depth of the lower hook so that when it moved to its lower position, th loops fall away from the lower hook.

In the arrangement shown in the drawing, the lower hook 5 is formed integral with a band 1 which encircles the handle and is fastened to the handle by a bolt 8 which fastens through the band into the handle. Hook 5 is fastened to the handle anshort distance abovethe lower end of parallel to the plane of the handle. Projecting outwardly from band 8 at the base of hook 8 and parallel to the handle are two ears I0.

vPivoted on a pin I I which has its bearings in ears I Il is a lever or latch I2. On the lowerend of lever or latch I2 is a thumb rest I3 and at the upper end is a linger Il which'extends inwardly towardthe center of the handle. Finger Il passes through anopening I5 in band 9 and is adapted to engage in either of two spaced'openings 'I5 and I'I in handle 3. Openings I5 and I1 areconnected to each other by a guide channel I8. Locatedbeneath the lower en'd of lever I2 is a spring4 I9 which acts in' a direction to force linger I4 inwardly. When finger I 4 is in either opening I E or I1, the band is held firmly in place, the finger being held in the opening by the spring I9. On the under side of thumb rest IIIr is'a stop 20 which engages band 9 and serves as a means to limit outwardmovement of finger I4. Stop 20 is so located that finger I4 can be moved out of opening I6 or II and into channel I8 but cannot be moved far enough to take the nger out of the channel. By this arrangement, the channel acts as a guide to direct movement of the finger from one opening to the other.

When the cleaner is to be stored, the upper hook is placed in its upper position with finger I4 in opening I6 and the cord is wound on the hooks in the usual manner. This is illustrated in Fig. 1. When the cleaner is to be used, lever I2 is actuated to bring finger I4 out of opening I6, after which the hook with the cord thereon is slid down the handle, finger I4 being guided in groove I8 until the lower end of the groove is reached whereupon the lever is released, permitting finger I4 to catch in opening I1. 'Ihis movement is sufficient so that the loops of the cord drorp off of the lower hook 5, remaining hanging on upper hook 6 as is illustrated in Fig. 2 on the drawing. One or more loops of cord may now be lifted from the upper hook, as found desirable, the remaining loops being left on the hook.

The foregoing construction provides an arrangement of cord hooks more convenient than arrangements heretofore .used in that it provides a means whereby all the loops of the cord may be simultaneously disconnected from the lower hook but leaving the loops hanging on the upper hook. At the same time, the arrangement is simple in construction, easy to operate, and capable o1' being manufactured at low cost.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

l. In a vacuum cleaner, the combination of a handle, a downwardly facing cord hook fixed oni the lower portion of the handle, an upwardly facing cord hook, a band slidable on the handle to which the upwardly facing cord hook is attached, a spring-pressed catch carried by the band, and means carried by the handle with which the catch engages for limiting movement of the band along the handle, said means being spaced apart a distance greater than the depth of the lower hook.

2. In a vacuum cleaner, the combination of a handle, a downwardly facing cord hook fixed on the handle, an upwardly facing cord hook on the portion of the handle above the lower hook, a member slidablyv mounted on the handle to which the upper hook is connected, a spring-pressed catch carried by the upper hook, and spaced means on the handle with which said catch is adapted to engage to hold the upper hooll: in space adjusted positions, said means being spaced apart a distance greater than the depth of the lower hook. y

' OSMUND HOLM-HANSEN. 

